“I respect the decision,” said Rua (Pictured, file photo) at the
Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “All four guys were ready
to fight for the belt. Lyoto is a tough fighter and he deserves to
be the contender right now. Let’s wait for my opportunity.”

Rua finished onetime prospect Brandon Vera
in the evening’s headliner at Staples Center in Los Angeles, while
Machida knocked out Ryan Bader in
the show’s co-main event. The Rua-Vera scrap was initially
announced as a No. 1 contender’s bout, but after a poor fan
reaction to the decision, White amended his stance and stated that
the light heavyweight who performed most impressively would receive
the next crack at the gold.

Rua was made a heavy favorite by the bookmakers prior to tonight’s
contest, but Vera acquitted himself well before meeting his end in
the fourth round. Despite the general perception that Vera was
overmatched, Rua said that he expected nothing less than an
excellent effort from his opponent.

“[Tonight was] no surprise. I know Brandon Vera, and tonight he
proved he has a [big] heart,” said Rua. “I trained hard for this
fight.”

Predictably, Vera also expected much of himself. After debuting
with the UFC in 2005 as a heavyweight and delivering several
standout performances, “The Truth” suffered back-to-back losses and
made the move to light heavyweight. However, he appeared unable to
recapture the spark that propelled him to four finishes in his
first four Octagon appearances.

“I wanted to put on a performance so that no one would ever talk
bad about the UFC. I wanted Shogun to know how much I respected him
by how hard I was fighting him. I wanted to prove everyone wrong.
I’m not done, not by a long shot,” Vera said at the post-fight
presser. “I knew I was doing work against one of the legends.”

Rua used his wrestling to take Vera down early in the first frame,
passing guard before taking Vera’s back. Round two saw Rua slow
significantly, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Vera, who traded
more evenly with the former light heavyweight champion in a trend
that would carry over into the next round before Rua scored again
with a takedown. Rua then appeared to catch his second wind in the
fourth frame and went to work, cracking Vera with a hard
combination against the cage that ended the fight.

Though Vera’s night ended in defeat, the American remained proud of
his performance.

“I’m not happy I lost, but I’m happy I fought the way I did. When
the time comes, I would love to do that again with Shogun” said
Vera. “For a long time, I started taking my job here in the UFC for
granted. I kind of fell off the track and stopped training like I
was fighting the best guys in the world. I figured that just by
being Brandon Vera, people would be nervous and back off, but it’s
not like that. This is the place of champions. It’s been a
hard-knock lesson, but I’ve learned it. I had a great time fighting
tonight, and I’m not going to stop training. This isn’t the end.
I’m going to get that damn title shot, one way or another.”

As for Rua, the 30-year-old says he is also satisfied by his
effort, though he vows to train even harder for his next bout,
regardless of whom he faces.

“I [got tired] a little bit, but next fight, I will train harder,”
said Rua. “Every fight, I fight with [all] my heart. Inside, I want
to [earn] a knockout every time.”